The Sea Wolf, a review of the 1904 novel by Jack London

 

The Sea Wolf by Jack London
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Action drama from the beginning of last century doesn't sound particularly relevant or credible, but this was certainly a thought provoking read from a writer of considerable fame.

London has arranged a salty tale of challenge and misadventure as the backdrop for some weighty moral issues which are given voice in two main characters. If you enjoy a salty yarn set on the high seas with plenty of sailor-speak and lots of rigging and navigation issues, then this will do you. If you want some fine literary references and some energetic tossing around of the biggest of big questions, this will also do you. The book has considerable relevance still with regard to the issue of whether 'might is right'.

The author probably takes us a turn too far when he introduces romance into what is almost a Robinson Crusoe moment in the last part of the book, but that is pleasant enough too.


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 There are many editions of this old classic. Here is the Goodreads Blurb about the book;

The Sea Wolf

by 

Jack London

 4.02  ·   Rating details ·  20,702 Ratings  ·  1,068 Reviews

The novel begins when Van Weyden is swept overboard into San Francisco Bay, and plucked from the sea by Larsen's seal-hunting vessel, the Ghost. This ship's evil captain, Wolf Larsen - The Sea-Wolf - is a murderous tyrant who uses his superhuman strength to torture and destroy, his brilliant mind to invent sick games, and his relentless will to control his mutinous crew. Pressed into service as a cabin boy by the ruthless captain, Van Weyden becomes an unwilling participant in a brutal shipboard drama. Larsen's increasingly violent abuse of the crew fuels a mounting tension that ultimately boils into mutiny, shipwreck, and a desperate confrontation. 

black and white Beachcomber

Participating in  classic rallies brings the benefit of having people with cameras shooting at your boat while you are busy having fun. While we are always aware of happy snappers when we sail this boat, we seldom see the photographs, except when photographers are generous on Facebook.

I know the previous owner has some old pictures of Beachcomber, but these below are all I have in my possession of her in former times. She was known for a long time as Alfreda apparently. The photo on the slipway shows her planking quite clearly,  the same as she is now bar the top plank which is detailed slightly differently- it was replaced in the 1990's, as was the rudder. This is Beachcomber at her most ungainly I think. She had a big old motor and a pretty pokey cabin and she carried very little sail. The date is likely to be in the 1930's, and she would have been an old boat by then- sixty-something...pushing seventy maybe.

 This photo below is also undated, and it is probably earlier than the first pic. It is my belief that she had the cabin added by her last owners before she spent some years at the bottom of the Mitchell river, waiting to be rescued. Below she still has most of her rig and a more sensible engine box, rather like the one she carries now. This may be the period in which she was used as a farm utility, transporting livestock between islands.

Below I include a bit of conjecture, guesswork even. I have looked at hundreds of photos of old sail boats from this district and this is the only one I have seen which could be Beachcomber. The stem looks right, and there may be a hint of counter stern in it, and the balanced lug was common in Paynesville. Whether this is of Beachcomber, or Alfreda or another boat entirely it is likely to be a hundred and ten or twenty (or more) years ago that this was taken. Even then she would be a thirty or forty year old boat at the time.

Portraits of a very old girl- Beachcomber 2018

After new topside paint late last year and new standing and running riggings, some new soles and internal paint in the previous year, Beachcomber was better than I'd ever seen her when she turned out for the Paynesville Classic. She sails beautifully and with very good manners, although in light airs I really must remember to loosen the topping lift a bit, so as not to interfere with the main sail shape. When the wind stiffens it is no longer a problem, and in light airs I always feel so relaxed I spend more time listening to the bow wave noises and basking in the feeling of it all that I loose interest in the finer points of trim.

These first four pics are in very high resolution and were taken by a professional photographer, Andrew Franks. The others are by other photographers who shared on Facebook. She scrubs up quite well for a lady with an age over 160, I think.

2018 Paynesville Classic -another collection of photos

Again, pics from a variety of photographers, shared with thanks. I'm hoping more still will turn up from the parade of sail which was a stunning event to be involved in.

speed boat struggling to outpace Beachcomber the gaffer at mach 2

Paynesville Classic Boat Rally 2018 Day One

Paynesville Classic Boat Rally 2018 - Andrew Franks Photography from Andrew Franks on Vimeo.


The Paynesville Classic attracted more than 250 boats of many types and was attended by a huge, hungry and very appreciative crowd. We had static displays on the hard, exhibition tents, the Lady Nelson tall ship, fleets off classic cruisers steeped in local tourist history, and a wonderful fleet of Gippsland type fishing boats, many with multi-generational family histories here. Historic sailing craft, small dinghies, speed boats and work boats- a feast for the eyes. There was also a classic fishing boat race event and a scratch-build boat from plywood competition.

The video above does a great job of summarising (very quickly) the range of craft on display and in the water on the first day. This first day included a sail past by all water-borne entries. The grand parade of sail happened on the second day and I hope to have some good pics to share of that soon.

The event grew out of the very hard work by Peter Medling in the first instance. He has driven the now world-wide interest in the event through his energy and unfailing enthusiasm. It has been truly remarkable work. The huge team of volunteers were again outstanding in their cheer and helpfulness. As a participator with a long bowsprit we certainly relaxed in the comfort of knowing that managing a docking in a busy crowd would always be managed calmly and without fuss by one of the helpers who so magically appeared when needed. This warmth and cheer reflects so well on the local community.

Most of these pics have been freely shared on Facebook, and I include shots by various photographers with thanks.

even the dolphins joined in

the Tin Shed - a local floating institution provided a movable stage for music and commentary

pottering to Paynesville for a classic boat rally.

Lake King can be lazy and languid, horizons can forget to turn up to the scene and despite the put-put of the diesel it's hard not to absorb some of the calm.

Over the next few days we will be just one of more than 200 boats from all over and it will be hectic. But for now, this is nice.

a tall ship in the lakes

One of the highlights of my coming week will be the Paynesville Classic Boat Rally, and the biggest entrant is Lady Nelson, a replica of the first boat to chart Bass Strait. She has come from Hobart, her home port. A history of the original boat (in brief) and other interesting background can be found by following this link

Docked at Metung for a well-earned break

photo Sallyanne Barclay. The water at the bar.

coming over the bar and into the channel under motor

The night before the entrance, marking time and waiting for permission to enter. The course was then into the Lake system and up to Metung

Raising sail on the way from Metung to Paynesville

before the regatta

A fishing boat crew before the Paynesville Regatta. Date unknown. Source; Paynesville Maritime Museum 

I include this as another example of the Gippsland type of boat in the early days of fishing our lake system. We can't date it but it appears to be late C19th. The main sail is lug and the rigging is typically simple and uncomplicated- no backstays or complicated block systems. The boat is probably 28ft or so, but easily beached. It appears that only the sax board or top strake is lapped. Often these early boats had 2 or 3 clinkers above the waterline. The thinking was to keep things smooth below the waterline to make less noise. I find the bowsprit interesting in that it is bending or possibly pointing downwards in a way that became a standard (although longer) on the big Couta boats  further west in Port Philip and Queenscliff.

Penelope Down East: a review of a gentle sailing book

Penelope Down East: Cruising Adventures in an Engineless Catboat Along the World's Most Beautiful Coast by W. R. Cheney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This isn't your ripping yarn of nautical struggles, near starvation or wild adventure- it is much gentler than that. Cheney has a modest boat of lovely proportions and these are collected essays from his cruises around some of America's most notable sailing destinations. His cat boat 'Penelope' has no motor and this determines his comings and goings as he responds to the weather, choosing this way over that on a whim, or more correctly, on the hope of a puff. It is the craft of this very thing that sets him apart from most of the people with whom he shares the water. He takes great pride in the skills required to forego automatic propulsion, and he is open and honest in recording his lapses and his very minor humiliations, but equally frank in revealing that little devil (present in many sailors) who simply can't resist the opportunity to show a bigger, flashier boat the charms of Penelope's stern from an increasing distance.

I don't think I learned much about Maine as an outsider, although many of the names are familiar in lore and in the names of various famous boat designs. The charts provided were very small, but in any case I wasn't hoping for a geography lesson, just to read of the daily tasks and minor challenges faced alone in these waters, and to glean something of the sensation and the emotional quality of his wanderings. These are the things that cause you to put the book aside for a moment and just feel it all with him.

This isn't a story, or even an adventure. It is a contemplation of all that is beautiful and solid and craftsmanlike in sailing simply and skilfully, and giving yourself the best chance of really appreciating the water and it's edges before these places are all developed into blandness.
I will put this copy in our boat, to be dipped into when the moment seems right. After the first reading, any chapter will take me somewhere.


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Metung old gaffers 2011

Chris Furey recently shared some old photos from one of the 2011 series of Metung Old gaffer races, and I thought I'd show them here, since Beachcomber was a participant. I feel a bit guilty that she hasn't competed recently, but her skipper nowadays struggles to find any interest in anything called a race, preferring less competitive pleasures. The guilt associated with this is  because the spectacle of the old timers jousting on the water is a spectator sport of merit....maybe one day I'll rediscover my adolescent competitiveness sufficiently to put aside my doubts about grown people trying to go faster than other grown-ups. For some reason I often overthink things that most people take as being perfectly reasonable.

Anyway there are some lovely boats here and you will see that the race was sailed in very light conditions.